Deputy Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry Ngo Toan Thang

Deputy Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry Ngo Toan Thang made the statement at the ministry’s regular press conference on April 23.

At the event, Thang said the United Nations Secretariat on April 15 announced Vietnam’s report on the UNSC presidency month (Report No. S/2020/258).

The report reviews all the activities Vietnam carried out in January when it held the UNSC presidency, he said, noting that the completion of this report was earlier than usual.

According to the official, taking the rotary presidency of the UNSC in the first month of the year marking the 75th anniversary of the UN Charter, Vietnam selected a priority theme of January as “Upholding the UN Charter to Maintain International Peace and Security”. A ministerial open debate chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on this theme attracted 111 speeches, the highest number in the history of the UN open debates. These included speeches by the UN Secretary-General, representatives of 109 member countries, and UN observers.

In particular, Vietnam also had an initiative to organise the first ever meeting at the UNSC on cooperation between the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the UNSC on promoting comprehensive and effective cooperation between the two organisations. The meeting focused on such priority areas as peaceful settlement of disputes, preventive diplomacy, disarmament, peacekeeping, counter-terrorism, maritime cooperation and security.

During the month under the presidency of Vietnam, the UNSC held 30 official activities, including two open debates, eight sessions to listen to reports and four sessions to approve resolutions, which were broadcast live on the UN’s media system.

As UNSC president, Vietnam also held an international press conference and many press briefings on the council’s work.

The council adopted 13 decisions, including four resolutions and a decision on extending the mandate of UN missions, forces and mechanisms, one declaration of the UNSC President, five press statements and two press releases. This is the largest number of decisions made by the UNSC during one month over many recent years./.VNA